Different Kinds of People
by HaveYouHeardTheWordBird
Summary: Abigail Jaylyn Watkins is the newest student at Waterloo Road and a girl who has just so happened to have earned Mr Barry Barry's interest.
1. Chapter 1

I tugged my maroon woolly hat further over my light wavy brown hair so it was just level with my grey eyes. I pulled at my black blazer awkwardly and tried to straighten out my mini skirt, but I didn't make any improvements. I was still going to feel out of place, no matter how much I tugged and pulled. I hung my hands from my backpack straps and breathed, closing my eyes. _You're going to be ok_. I peeked out from underneath my eyelids, hoping I might see something more exciting to look at, but no, my new school was still there. Waterloo Road the sign read. I pulled out my phone to see I had 15 minutes till the bell went so I rummaged in my bag till I found my iPod and headphones. My headphones were the big, bulky, over the head kind of headphones, not the standard ear buds. I snapped the headphones over my head and pressed play to be greeted by the sound of David Bowie's voice singing Heroes.

After a couple other songs the bell finally went. I sighed, pulling the headphones off and shoved them back in my bag. I walked up the front steps, swung open the door and watched as the entire school just bustled around me. I felt weird being here. Everyone knew exactly what they were doing, who their friends were, what classes they had, the school menu, where everything was, but I didn't; I was an outsider. I then reminded myself of 'my first mission' as my dad put it: Get to the head teacher's office. The only issue was I didn't know where to go. I'd never toured the place, never made a point of visiting, because whilst I studied down in Surrey with all my friends and tried to pass my exams, my dad was up here investigating. And my dad wasn't all that clear on instructions, so I did the most logical thing I could think of: Ask someone.

"Excuse me" I tapped on the shoulder of a nearby boy. He swung round face full of curiosity and what an attractive face it was, "Could you tell me where the head teacher's office is"

"Oh if you go through that door and keep on going till you see a door marked as 'Head teacher's Office'" He looked me up and down, "I'm guessing you're new"

"Yep" I smiled weakly, "Well I better get going" He nodded his head and walked off to whatever he had to do. I clutched my bag straps and walked down through the doors and down the hall just as the boy said and sure enough I made it. As soon as I walked in I was greeted by a cheerful lady. She was rather round in places and wore a big grin framed by her bright pink lipstick.

"Hi" She said

"Hi I'm here to see Mr…Byrne? I think that's what his name is" I replied

"Ah yes if you just sit over there. He won't be long" The woman gestured over to a group of red chairs off in the corner.

"I'm Sonya by the way." The Woman said, "Mr Byrne's secretary"

"I'm AJ, AJ Watkins" I plopped myself down on the comfortable chairs and waited. Only a few minutes later did I hear a door swing open, but it wasn't Mr Byrne's door that swung open. It was the door out to the hallway. In walked a family made up of 2 girls, a boy and 1 mum. One of the girls, wore a dress more like a top, had her curly dark blonde hair topped on her face and face covered in makeup. She had a hand on her hip and a leather purse swung from the crook of her arm. Next was the guy. He wore a smirk on his stubbly face, had dark brown hair and had that twinkle in his eye. After that was the other girl, younger than the one before. I initially took her for a boy, but looking at how she dressed it wasn't hard to make the mistake. Her uniform consisted of boy standard trousers, an un-tucked, messy shirt and a pair of worn and battered trainers. She had chin length blonde hair, wore no makeup whatsoever, had a rucksack and carried around a football. And finally it was their mother. Small waist in a pair of skinny, dark blue jeans, shoulders topped in a black leather jacket, black leather bag hanging from her shoulder and the clack of her high heel boots along the floor.

"Carol Barry" The woman told Sonya, "I'm here to see Mr Byrne"

"If you just take a seat" Sonya told her nervously.

The woman who called herself Carol Barry looked over to the red seats and then her eyes landed on me. She said a "Fine" To Sonya and her and her family all took seats. They squished up on one long set of seats.

"Abigail Watkins" I turned around as I heard my name. I saw a man in the doorway and guessed that he must be Mr Byrne. I sat up and walked into the office. As I did so I noticed the boy jump at the chance of taking my old seat.

Mr Byrne shut the door behind him.

"If you'd just take a seat" I sat in the seat opposite from his. He settled down in his own chair shortly after and he began to rifle through some papers on his desk, finally reaching mine. There were a few raised eyebrows here and there as he scanned through my academic history.

"I prefer AJ by the way" I said to him

"Excuse me" He asked.

"You called me Abigail. I prefer to be called AJ"

"Ah very well then _AJ_" He sighed "Now from what I've observed you've proven to be a hard working student though moving on more than one occasion in the last 5 years has clearly had an effect on your overall progress…"

"My dad is always being relocated; he takes work where he can find it." I replied.

"Well I do hope you manage to stay on here, because you show great potential" I nodded in response, "Now we do have uniform policies as you probably know, but you seem to be decent enough... for now" His eyes landed on my hat. I yanked the woolly accessory from my head leaving my hair in a bit of a state.

"So is that it?" I asked curiously as he continued to scan through my past academics.

He nodded slowly, "Uh... yes. You can go. Just make sure to collect your timetable from Miss Donnegan"

I got up from the chair, swung my bag over my shoulder, and walked out to meet Miss Donnegan or Sonya as she introduced herself. Sonya handed over the timetable.

"Thanks" I said. I took a glance over at the family from earlier, the boy eying me up, and then hurried out. I scanned my timetable to see my first lesson of the day: English.

* * *

My English teacher was called Mrs Mulgrew. She was a woman in her late 30s with a short blonde cut and a tired expression. When I arrived she sat me down next to the same boy who gave me directions from earlier. He introduced himself the second I slipped into my new seat.

"I'm Kevin" He told me.

"AJ" I replied bringing out the usual equipment from my bag.

Mrs Mulgrew taught us about for poetry that lesson, but it wasn't all she had to say. Towards the end of the lesson, 2 girls entered. One of them was the rather dressed up girl from the office and the other was one I'd not seen before. The girl I'd never seen till now had shoulder length black hair and wide green eyes.

"Come in" Mrs Mulgrew said. The girl from the office snapped at her gum, "Hello Imogen… And you must be Dynasty Barry"

I guessed the black haired girl was Imogen, meaning the other girl was Dynasty.

"And you must be Christine Mulgrew" Dynasty spoke with her heavy Liverpool accent. Her comment earned a small round of laughs.

"Very Funny" Miss sounded uncomfortable, "Why don't you take a seat?" She gestured towards the front desk.

"Where's Connor" Imogen asked suspiciously after taking a quick scan of the English class, whilst one Dynasty Barry walked over to her new seat, heels clicking with every step. Miss hesitated at first before finally answering, "He's not well… he decided to stay at home". I guessed the mysterious 'Connor' was perhaps related to my English teacher. Ugh I really did hate being so behind on information sometimes. Mrs Mulgrew began to briefly explain the lesson to the latecomers.

"What are you staring at?" Dynasty spat at two girls who were busy whispering away whilst taking small glances at Imogen. It was in this moment that I noticed the patch of skin that wasn't quite like the rest of Imogen's neck. It was wrinkled and scarred.

"Dynasty if you want to say something then put your hand up" Mrs Mulgrew told her. Dynasty, with an eyebrow raised, stuck her hand in the air. Miss sighed and nodded for her to speak.

"What happened to Imogen's face?"

The English teacher and the girl with scarred skin shared an awkward glance, "I hardly think—"Miss began, but the girl with the Liverpool accent cut her off.

"She said you knew all about it" The girl had a smirk on her face and eyes watching gleefully for an answer. Miss Mulgrew took another prolonged look at Imogen, before licking her lips and breathing deeply. What she was about to say was not easy as I so learned.

"Ok…well…most of you know that Imogen was involved in a fire last term" heads slowly rose to hear what she had to say. Mrs Mulgrew hesitated for a moment, but continued on anyway; there was no backing out now, "A fire that I must take responsibility for. It was a difficult time for me, but I want to apologise for the pain I've caused as a result of my thoughtlessness" She turned away from the class and stared directly at Imogen, whilst Dynasty looked at the teacher with a raised eyebrow, "So I'm sorry Imogen" Miss smiled weakly, but it didn't ease the atmosphere of the class.

"Well that's the end of class" Mrs Mulgrew said after clearing her throat, "It's time to get off to your next lessons" Chairs scraped and students chattered and all the while Mrs Mulgrew was sunk down in her seat, head in hands. I now understood why she looked so tired.


	2. Chapter 2

"So what's this about exactly" I asked Kevin as we took our seats in the lecture theatre. The room was near packed with students that I recognised from class and others from the above year. There were other students however that I didn't recognise.

"Apparently there was a fight between some PRU kids and a guy in the year above called Jack" Kevin told me.

"The PRU?"

"The Pupil Referral Unit. It's for students struggling at school." He gestured towards the mystery people, "They're the PRU lot."

"Ok Everybody Quieten down please" A teacher called as Mr Byrne took his place at the podium set up at the front of the room. The place fell quiet.

"Right, I was appalled to hear about an incident earlier on today between one of our seniors and a group from the referral unit. I will not tolerate this kind of behaviour. And I expect PRU pupils to conduct themselves responsibly" I noticed some students rolling their eyes at every word Mr Byrne spoke, "The referral unit is to enable students who have had difficulties in the past fulfil their potential and I believe that some of our greatest successes can come from the PRU. Now, so that you can begin to have a greater understanding of what the PRU stands for, I believe Miss Boston has prepared a short film for us."

I stared over to the teacher Mr Byrne referred to as Miss Boston. She was young and slim and looked very healthy. Her brown hair was cut short at her chin.

"It's about the achievement of other units elsewhere" Mr Byrne finished

Miss Boston reached over to the nearby laptop ready to play the clip and another teacher flipped the light switch. All eyes were now on the paused video shown on the screen. The clip started, but it was far from what the clip was supposed to be. The clip was supposed to be educational and informative, but there was nothing educational and informative about a woman whispering seductively to her partner in bed before carrying on with _it_. Some would beg to differ of course, but that was beside the point.

The room erupted with laughter.

Suddenly one guy jumped from his seat and lunged at another one, but one of the teachers quickly intervened.

"Hey I recognise that guy" I said to Kevin.

"Yeah that's Jack" Kevin told me, but I shook my head.

"No, the other one. He was at the office this morning"

"And he was on the tape"

The guy from the office (and tape as most people now recognised him), amongst all of the drama, reached at the laptop and grabbed something. What that something was I didn't know. Who he was I really didn't know either apart from the fact that he was probably Dynasty's brother meaning his last name was Barry. What his first name was? I hadn't a clue.

"Barry, wait at my office" Mr Byrne said as Jack was taken outside by a teacher who Kevin told me was called Mr Clarkson. Jack was completely mental.

"Right lunch starts in 10 minutes" Miss Boston said looking at her watch, "So you shall all stay here till then." She then spoke to another teacher before she had them lead off the Barry kid to the Head's office.

"Well that was interesting" I sighed.

"You could definitely say that again" Kevin nodded.

I relaxed back in my seat—well as much as I could with a stiff wooden bench—and thought to myself how the day had gone so far. First fires and now sex tapes and it wasn't even Lunch yet.

* * *

When the 10 minutes were finally up Miss Boston released us from the lecture theatre.

Kevin and I were walking down the hall. We rounded a corner and then he turned to me, "I have to go and do something so I'll see you later"

"Ok. Well I'll be in the cafeteria" We parted ways. I decided to go exactly where I said I would be: the cafeteria. I followed the signs in the school and found the place pretty quickly. The room wasn't majorly packed to my surprise. With my last school the cafeteria was complete hell with endless queues and people constantly shoving in.

I got my lunch in virtually no time at all and settled myself down on an abandoned table.

"Is it ok if I sit here?" I looked up to see a girl with crazy curls of blonde, a blue head scarf just managing to poke out from beneath it all, and stunning blue eyes. She wore black peplum skirt with a no sleeve collared blouse and black platform shoes. I gestured for her to sit. She set down her tray, placed her floral print satchel on the ground and slid into the seat opposite. She was slim and pretty. There was no this way or that way. She was pretty "So I guess you're the newbie that everyone's talking about" The girl noted whilst taking a mouthful of her water.

"Everyone's talking about me?" I asked with clear doubt in my words.

"Ok well not _everyone_ exactly, but there is some talk about you" She took a forkful of pasta and was about to eat it when she just stopped and she looked at me curiously, "You're not with that Barry lot are you? Like another sister or something?"

"No. Only child. Always have been, always will be." I took a couple bites of my food, "Do you know anything about them?"

The girl nodded.

"Now most of my knowledge is rumour and gossip, but from the way the Barry's sound I wouldn't put any of this past them. The youngest of the three is Kacey; she's the one with the short blonde hair and boyish look. She was excluded from Havelock, so was her brother. Then there's Dynasty: the middle child. She wasn't excluded like her siblings, but she's a bundle of rage just waiting to happen. Then there's the eldest, Barry. Of course everyone knows who he is given last period. He's a bit of a con apparently."

"Wait did you say his name is Barry?" I asked

"Oh yeah. His name is Barry Barry"

"What?" I was chuckling from disbelief, "You are joking?"

"I'm not. Barry's argument is that "he's so good they named him twice"" The girl took another forkful of food

"Isn't that Nando's moto for Piri Piri?" The girl shook her head, curls vigourously shaking with her.

"Apparently their dad's in prison. Armed robbery is how the story goes"

"They might as well just wear signs saying 'trouble'" I joked. I scraped up the remainder of my food and then carried my tray over to a large steel shelving unit. The blonde girl joined me.

"I never caught your name" I said

"Lara" The girl responded, "And I never caught yours either"

"It's AJ. Just AJ"

"Fair enough."

The two of us wandered out of the lunch hall, but not before earning a wink each from one Barry Barry as he passed us by. I rolled my eyes.

"He really needs to get over himself" I sighed

"Too right" Said Lara

It felt exciting to have a new friend if I could call Lara that having only known her for the majority of lunch. She was a rather kooky person, who I also learnt was a dancer, trained since the age of 9 and also a member of the PRU. By the end of lunch we parted ways and headed for our separate lessons, mine being Art and hers being life skills. The joy.

I arrived to my art lesson 2 minutes past. I walked in and sat down on the first free seat I saw next to a guy with shaggy brown hair and blue eyes that shone out from underneath his fringe.

"And our new student finally arrives" The teacher said, leaning against her desk. She had a choppy blonde bob cut, a larger figure and introduced herself as Miss Miller. She explained me through what I'd missed and set me off on work that the class had started a whole term ago, reminding me that I'd probably have to put in after school lessons if I wished to catch up. I was surprised. Every other teacher had me doing the same work as everyone else and I'd just have to go from there, but Miss Miller was different.

"Hey your works pretty good" The shaggy haired boy whispered to me 30 minutes into the lesson. His name, as I learnt when Miss Miller took the register, was Ross and of course he learnt mine.

"Thanks" I replied looking down at my piece. I'd drawn a hallway. It was an image I often drew even when I was younger and with every new version a small detail was always adjusted. It was sometimes colour, sometimes the size of an object, sometimes even the tiniest mark. My latest was the vase on the wooden table; it was now yellow instead of blue. My eyes flicked over to his work: A portrait. It wasn't of anyone in particular that I could see and all I thought to myself was that it was incredible. Every detail, every shadow, muscle, hair was drawn to the highest of standards. The person, whoever they were could have easily leapt from the page and become another everyday human being.

"Your work's incredible" I breathed.

"Oh yeah. It's alright" He mumbled. _Alright? _I was about to share this thought when another student dragged his attention away. I had art again next period, so I stayed there until the end of the day and then went to meet Lara outside as we arranged before heading to class earlier.

"So did you hear?" Lara asked me as we started walking down to the gate.

"Hear what?" I replied.

"Jack went at Barry Barry again. Apparently he took a baseball bat and tried to batter him."

"I'm not surprised" I sighed.

"Oh and Barry Barry got slapped about by his mum" Lara added with a giggle. I instantly remembered the steel faced woman from earlier this morning. I knew the second I saw her that she wasn't one to mess with, "So what are you doing after school? Going home? Going town?"

"I don't know, probably go home I guess. My dad wants me home fairly soon" I said as I reached into my bag and shoved my woolly hat back on my wavy head.

"Or you could come and watch the school's football team play"

"I guess."

"Well then it's settled." Lara smiled whilst linking arms with me, "The pitch is just a small walk from school"

We arrived at the pitch just on time and to my surprise I saw a familiar face: Kevin. He was all dressed up in the waterloo road uniform waiting on the side-lines ready to play, whilst the rest of the team were in place on the pitch. "Hi" I said as I came up behind him. He looked surprised to see me.

"Oh, hi AJ" He gave me a grin once his surprise had subsided and then noticed Lara just next to me, "And Lara"

"Nice to see _you_ too Kevin" Lara said, "How is the world outside the PRU?"

"It's been better. There have definitely been more intellectual discussions"

"Are you seriously going down that road again? Why can you not accept my beliefs?"

"Because they're not scientifically possible"

"Excuse is there something I'm missing" I said.

"Last term Kevin told me my beliefs are fairy tale." Lara huffed, crossing her arms.

"That's because they are fairy tales" Kevin replied irritably.

"Well I'm sorry that you are unable to see what is real"

"Oh like you" He scoffed.

"What are your beliefs exactly?" I inquired as the two continued to bicker.

"Fairies" Kevin told me before Lara even had a chance to get the word out of her mouth, "Now like I told her they don't exist." He sounded desperate for me to agree with his views over hers. It must be so hard to be a brainbox and deal situations that don't seem so brainy.

"There have been sightings of fairies for decades and pictures—" Lara began

"Yes, that were photo shopped."

"Oh of course, because everyone was the complete master of Photoshop back in the 1910s"

"I have told you, the Cottingley fairy case was revealed as a fake"

I heard a whoop in the background as our team scored. I cheered and clapped with the rest of the crowd, but the other two continued to bicker.

"They were trying to protect the fairies. If everyone went looking then who knows how long the race would last" Lara insisted.

"I am telling you—"

I cut Kevin off before he had a chance to finish.

"Stop with the arguing, ok? Both of you"

"We were just having a conversation about beliefs. That's all. Isn't that right Lara?" Kevin stated, acting as though their small argument had never taken place.

"Absolutely correct" She nodded in agreement. I rolled my eyes. They were definitely an odd pair.

"Hey what did I miss?" A tall, skinny girl with long wavy ginger hair that reached all the way down to her elbows ran up to meet Lara. She wore a school shirt with sleeves rolled up that was tucked into a pleated black skirt. Her feet were topped with knee high white socks and a pair of shining black brogues. A worn leather satchel swung from her arm.

"We scored 1 goal so far." Lara informed the red head. I recognised the girl. Her name was Anna. She was in a couple of my classes and she seemed pretty smart to me. She answered questions, shared her thoughts with the class and I hadn't heard one wrong answer uttered from her mouth. Anna's brown eyes landed on me.

"Oh hi AJ" She smiled with surprise. It seemed I wasn't the only one to remember names, "I didn't know you knew Lara."

"We met at lunch" I replied, whilst keeping half an eye on the match. Then yet another person walked over to our small group. A podgy, glass-wearing man wearing a grin stood at Kevin's side.

"Err could you give us some space" Kevin asked the three of us.

"Sure" I said, whilst noticing the time of Anna's watch, "Actually I better get going, I don't want to be home too late."

"But what about the match?" Lara called as I began to walk away, reaching into my bag.

"Tell me tomorrow" I grinned, snapping on my headphones.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up in the morning wide eyed and ready to go. It was an odd feeling considering it was a school day. The second I was out of bed I was pulling off my oversized shirt and chequered shorts and replacing them with freshly washed uniform. I wriggled into my tights and tugged on blazer and of course tied up my yellow and red Waterloo road tie. I looked in my mirror; my hair was a mess. I did my best at plaiting it and after many attempts to make it look ok I gave up. I really did hate my hair sometimes. Eventually I managed to make a bun out of it and used a large hair band to hold the rest of my hair back.

"Do you want me to make you anything?" Dad called from the kitchen as I applied some make up.

"Toast please!" I replied. I quickly organized my bag, shoving everything I needed in and tossing the useless stuff out. I hung the rucksack from my back and headed out to the kitchen. Dad was there with a steaming mug off tea in his hand and a soggy slice of toast in the other. His eyes were busy scanning the newspaper when I entered, but they quickly moved to me.

"Toast is on" He told me through mouthfuls. Dad looked very relaxed with his loose shirt, scruffy jeans and bare foot appearance. His black curls were strewn about his face and stubble crept up along his neck. Lucky for him it was his day off.

"Well try not to wreck the place while I'm out" I joked.

"I think I'll be sleeping for most of it"

POP. I took my toast from the toaster, heat nipping at my fingers. I ate every last bite. I slipped on my black docs, brushed my teeth, slipped on my headphones and I was out the door. I lived in a house made up of five flats; we lived on the 1st floor. Just opposite us was a workaholic woman who was rarely ever in because she was always busy working in Glasgow. I didn't know who lived above us just that they were very noisy in certain activities. Dad and I had already met the people who lived downstairs: An old woman who was very nice and often had family over and an elderly couple. With them lived their granddaughter, Kathy who was a year below me and also went to Waterloo road. She seemed alright. She was just leaving when I came down, her bright pink hair tied up in a ponytail and grey eyes lined in black. I pulled my headphones off and let them hang around my neck, with the music pouring out for the whole world to hear.

"Hi" I said.

"Hey" She replied quietly whilst nervously fiddling with her hair. I never did understand how a girl so shy felt the want to have bright pink hair, though it did look good on her.

"Do you want to walk with me?" Kathy shook her head. I shrugged, "I'll see you around then" I placed my headphones back on my head and was greeted by the sound of Paloma Faith, though I did still hear her voice even without having them on. I could imagine that I'd soon turn into the hard of hearing woman in the flat 1 if I kept all my music at the same volume.

I took the long route to school that day, enjoying the view of the river Clyde as I went. The breeze made an attempt at untangling my hair, sending loose strands all over the place, but luckliy my hair stayed up for the most part. I eventually reached Waterloo Road, a school where Drama was more than just a subject apparently. It felt odd to remind myself that I'd started here nearly 3 weeks ago, especially when I thought about how well I knew the school and the people I hung out with. Lara was waiting for me at the gate, this time with a flower crown dug deep into her curls. I saw her saying something. And then she looked like she was groaning, before she shoved my headphones from my ear.

"You know it's worrying if you can't hear someone who's right next to you, right?" She said.

"It's good music" I protested.

Lara rolled her eyes, "You won't be able to hear any music soon if you carry on at this rate"

"Where's Anna?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Coming"

The two of us started walking towards the school.

"Hey there's a party Friday night, want to come?" Lara asked me. It was in that moment that my mind just went everywhere.

Fragments of images. Just fragments. Everywhere. Never ending. People laughing. People crying. Like frames of videos before my eyes.

It stopped.

"Uh…sure" I replied a little shaken. I wished I were able to explain it, but I should have been used to it; it wasn't the first time it had happened.

"Are you ok?" Lara queried taking a better look at me.

"I'm fine"

"Well you don't look it… but then again that's what you're like most days" She was grinning.

"Hey" But I was laughing too. The small moment was gone from my mind.

* * *

My first lesson of the day was Drama with Miss Dower, but if a student actually attempted to call her that she would tell them straight away that it was Carrie and nothing else. Carrie couldn't have been much older than us; she looked fresh out of uni and yet she wasn't like a lot of new teachers. She could actually control the class with ease. Perhaps it was because she spent more time treating everyone as equals than shouting all the time.

"Right today class we shall be learning about….wait for it… Chemistry. And before you start thinking 'But Miss this isn't science'" Her impression of the classic teen had us laughing, "We are studying the chemistry between characters, because you guys will soon be on scripted pieces and the chemistry sometimes is lacking."

"So are we talking romance?" A girl named Jasmine asked whilst looking in the direction of her boyfriend.

"Yes we are Jasmine; however you won't be working with your dear Harry, because I'm choosing your partners. I want to see something fresh! If you already have chemistry with someone then it's not much of a lesson is it?" Carrie then went through the circle pairing off people until there was no one left. My pair was Eric James, one of the many acting talents in class and also one of the most serious. Carrie was definitely making this tough, and not just because we were complete strangers to each other.

"And" Carrie added, "Everyone shall be performing today. Oh and you all have 10 minutes"

Yep. Definitely making this tough.

"So what kind of scene do you want to do?" Eric asked me.

"Uh… a romantic one? I'm sorry this isn't exactly my forte" I said sighing.

"Well that's great" His voice was clearly sarcastic, "Ok how about arguing couple?"

"That could work"

So that is what we did. We became an arguing couple. We bickered and fought -both physically and verbally -and then we worked on the end of the argument. We wanted them to reconcile, to fall in love, to feel an overwhelming feeling of attraction towards each other, but we were struggling. I didn't know how to feel so intensely attracted to someone, because I never had. When he was trying to become closer and share prolonged eye contact, I couldn't. I'd feel uncomfortable and shy. I found myself laughing sometimes whilst Eric became more and more irritated.

"AJ can you please put effort in!" He finally moaned.

"I'm sorry, ok? I told this isn't my thing" I replied.

"Think of past relationships" He suggested.

"You think I haven't already thought of that? I don't have one to think of." He seemed somewhat taken a back, but I couldn't be sure. He was rather good at acting after all.

"Seriously?"

"Yes seriously. So if you could give me any other hints before we have to perform then I would be grateful. "

He paused and then walked over to Carrie. They talked for a few moments and then he came back.

"Come with me" He said.

"What?" I asked

"Just do as I say"

I followed him out of class all the way to a spare classroom just at the end of the hall.

"What are we doing here?" I asked looking at the geography posters pinned to the walls.

"I'm helping you with your chemistry" Eric replied calmly. He then pulled me close and I mean _very_ close, with our bodies fully pressed together, "How do you feel?"

"Uncomfortable"

"How does your character feel?"

"Still uncomfortable" He then had me place my arms on his shoulders and look into steel blue eyes.

"How do you feel now?"

"Do I really have to repeat myself?"

"AJ just work with it ok? Now I'm going to do something you might not like."

"What-?" He pulled me into a kiss. It wasn't very long, but still very much passionate. He pulled back to see my surprised face.

"Don't take that as a romantic gesture" He told me.

"I wasn't going to" I replied a little flustered.

"Now how do you feel?"

"Well my lips feel warm... but that's not what you meant. It was intense."

"Exactly. I want you to feel intensity between the characters when we perform; I want you to feel chemistry. Now are you ready to go back to class?"

I nodded. In brief moments that we spent walking back down the hall to class, I asked:

"So Carrie condoned you doing all of that back there?"

"Oh no, I said you needed a little air because you weren't feeling well"

I laughed.

"Are you feeling better now?" Carrie asked me as a came back in.

"Yeah, much better." I replied.

"So much better than you are ready to perform first?"

"I guess we could manage something" Eric said.

"Good, because you're performing now" She was grinning a wicked smile.

"Eric we haven't had enough time" I hissed at him.

"We'll be fine. Just do everything that we did before and remember: Intensity."

We performed. It could have gone better; we only had 10 minutes after all, but our characters' chemistry had developed. We argued and we bickered and we fought as we had rehearsed and then we came together, the love between the two people we portrayed came to life. And by the end of it people were clapping.

"Thank you for stopping it when you did" Carrie said, "Any longer and it wouldn't have been age appropriate." Then she let us sit down and be critiqued and then she moved on to the next performance.

* * *

"So how was class?" Lara asked me at break. We sat on the steps by the entrance doors. The others had yet to arrive.

"Interesting" I responded thinking of the events of Drama and only drama. There wasn't much to think about when it came to second period unless I counted the small hiccup my French teacher had in spelling a word.

"How interesting exactly?" She queried.

"It was just interesting."

"Well I heard more than that, about you and Eric James."

How had anyone heard about the kiss?

"Yeah apparently you two had a very heated performance in drama." Oh that was what she meant.

"Oh yeah".

"Oh yeah what?" Anna set herself down next to us on the steps.

"Just Drama" Lara responded, "Is Ross coming out?"

Yeah. Ross. As in art Ross with the shaggy hair and blue eyes.

"Well he was in class when I left" Anna replied flipping her red hair back and out of her face, "Is Perri?"

"She'll be here" Lara told the red head.

Perri Ann was a PRU member alongside Lara and a complete bundle of energy in a body that only stood as tall as 5'1". She quickly came running out not long after to join us.

"Hey" She grinned. She had a way of making us all feel giant-like, especially Lara and Anna.

"Has anyone seen the way Eric James looks today?" She asked whilst fixing her straight honey brown hair with the help of her pocket mirror.

"AJ most definitely would have" Lara teased

"It was a drama piece ok?" I said

"What?" Perri asked curiously

"Never mind" Lara replied, "Anna is it true what happened in history today?"

Anna sighed, "Yes. But Dynasty Barry had it coming to her."

"What happened?" Perri and I asked simultaneously

"Imogen Stewart lashed out at Dynasty Barry" Anna replied as though it was the 3000th time she had had to share this information.

* * *

**Ok I would just like to say a quick thank you to those who have followed, favourited, reviewed and even simply viewed/ read this story. I've had this idea since last year and thought it would be to cool to write. Now because I am rather busy it is probably going to be a case of a chapter per week, but I don't have a set day that I work by when it comes to posting. I just hope I can continue writing this until I reach some of the main plot points of this story :)**


	4. Chapter 4

_My head felt as though it was ready to explode. Pounding and pounding, never stopping, always pounding. I felt sweat consuming me and tears streaming and I couldn't explain it. The sound tore apart around me and my ears were ringing with screams and they wouldn't stop. Never stopping, always screaming. I wanted to see, to understand, but each time I found focus, the image was fading and I couldn't figure out what was happening around me. All there was to understand was a pounding head and deafening screams. I could see flashes. Glints of gold and waves of brown. Speckles of dark red._

SMACK.

"You know Miss Watkins if you put the same amount of effort into your work as you do day dreaming then perhaps you wouldn't have scored a C." Budgen lectured as he chucked me my English Paper on Frankenstein. I rubbed at my forehead; it killed.

Mr Budgen continued on handing out essays. "Mr Skelton far from it" He dropped the essay onto the table with a smack. The noise of book slapped against table only made my forehead worse. My second 'moment' of the day was worrying; I hadn't had one in a couple weeks, but to have two in one day? It wasn't good.

"Miss Barry" Budgen sounded just as disappointed as he had with the rest of the class, but his tone suddenly lightened and he sounded gleeful that someone wasn't failing, "An A* and nothing lifted from Wikipedia! Well done" He placed the book gently done on the table and then quickly moved on to Imogen. He'd turned sour again. "Unlike this magnificent example" And he dropped the book with a flourish into Imogen's lap.

"Wait!" Budgen barked as the entire class shoved themselves up from their seats, ready for the end of the day, "Right full time. See you lucky campers again tomorrow"

"Are you staying for open evening?" I asked Kevin as we left class. He looked down and distant, something I hadn't come to know him as since I started. But a couple weeks never was a long enough time to get to know someone.

"No" He replied, "I'm meeting up with some people instead."

"Oh ok. Well I'll see you tomorrow" I walked through the crowds of students filing out of the school and made my way over to the art department where Miss Miller was waiting with a big grin.

"I'm glad you could make it" She said. Open evening for me was more of a last minute arrangement, considering I didn't know I was helping until 3rd period. I spotted Ross sketching another one of his portraits off to the side. I noticed he'd used a lot of pink.

"So what do you want me to do?" I asked, setting my bag down and pulling out my common accessories: My headphones and iPod.

"I need to get the art displays set up. There are a few things down in the hall that I need and I would like you to talk to the parents when they come in. Of course I'll be here too, but I thought they might like to speak to an actual student" Miss Miller rifled through the drawers in her desk and pulled out a list of the things she needed: Where they would be, who from, that kind of thing.

* * *

I strolled down the school halls, dodging past the students that stayed to help set up, and arrived at the hall. Banners and boxes of leaflets were off to the side and empty display boards were lined up against the wall. As I walked in Dynasty and her mum were making their way out, the bag hung from Dynasty's arm rattling away and her mum wearing a proud face.

"What do you think you're looking at?" Mrs Barry asked harshly, before clacking away in her heels.

I noticed Imogen watching on from the middle of the hall with a disappointed look.

"So I'm guessing the rumours are true" I said in the silence of the room.

"Yeah. I guess so" The raven haired girl replied.

"Miss Miller said there's a box of display stuff around here somewhere." I was quick to change the subject and Imogen pointed me over to the cardboard box tucked away underneath one of the tables.

"Thanks." I then turned to her with a sympathetic expression, "She was born a Barry"

I slid my headphones over my ears and played Madonna before using both arms to carry the box of stuff back to art. Imogen gave me a weak smile as I left. I walked back down the hall, _like a virgin_ playing in my ear and me miming the lyrics as I went, when I ran into to someone. And they weren't someone I wanted to see.

"Watch it!" Barry Barry began as I bumped into him. Then he paused and came closer, "I saw you first day of school"

"Great observation Sherlock, now can I carry on?" I replied.

He stepped out the way and made a gentlemen gesture for me to pass - the idea of him acting in anyway gentleman-like was a hard one-, but before I'd even walked two steps, he gripped onto my arm, slid back my headphones and whispered: "If you're ever lonely, you know who to find."

I shook him off, "creep"

* * *

**One of my shorter chapters and they will annoyingly pop up every now and then. Apologies for not uploading last week, things have just been rather hectic as I'm preparing for MCM expo this weekend. I'm planning on uploading another chapter this week, however, to compensate for last week. Well that's all for now, so enjoy.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Dad?" I called dropping my keys on the side. No answer. I called again. No answer. I sighed as I pulled off my bag and my hat and my blazer. I was tired out from open evening, answering questions that seemed a bit too pointless to ask and having to pack up and then walk home afterwards, under darkened skies, by myself. "Dad?" I still continued to call. Not that it made a difference; he still wasn't answering. I walked into the open space of the flat that held both the living room and kitchen before becoming a narrow hallway off to the 2 bedrooms and bathroom. I turned to the living room sofas and stopped. I watched with wide eyes and high levels of curiosity.

"Dad!" I was calling again, "There's a toddler in the living room! Dad!"

Before me was a small girl, who looked about the age of 3, with tanned skin, great big, brown, innocent eyes and curly brown hair. She was busy tapping at a child sized xylophone with a beater, making clunking noises instead of the sweet rings the instrument was designed to make. She looked up at me briefly and then went straight back to her music making. I wanted to call "Dad" again, but I knew he wasn't responding. Either he wasn't here or he was just sleeping. Or worse I had somehow made it in to someone else's flat in my tiredness, even though I knew I couldn't have.

I raced over to Dad's room and as I peered into the room I noticed a shape under the duvet, but the shape wasn't just of him. I spotted masses of dark curly hair and it was far from my dad's standard of hair. I spotted a chocolate brown hand draped over him.

"Elaine? Dad?" This seemed to have got their attention and the two of them looked up at me tiredly. Elaine quickly dragged part of the duvet up around her the second she actually realised what was going on.

"AJ" Elaine said, "Hi"

"Yeah, hi" I replied awkwardly, "I'll just be in my room"

"Wait" Elaine grabbed at one of my dad's nearby t-shirts, her underwear left stray on the floor and her jeans. My dad went back to snoozing. Elaine led me out to the living room area and we sat down on the squishy brown sofa. I looked down at the toddler still happily playing on the floor.

"This is Janey" Elaine told me, "She's my daughter"

"So is this supposed to be the dramatic and emotional part of my life where I find out that I've had a half-sister for nearly three years of my life" I said.

Elaine laughed a tired laugh and then smiled, "She's not your sister. I came to see your dad for me, not for Janey"

"So you basically met with my dad, had sex and all whilst Janey was busy playing the xylophone next door" I had a way of being straight to the point sometimes.

"I would like to argue with that, but it's true." She sighed with her gaze on Janey, "Your dad got in touch with me. He wanted to meet up, talk about us. He said he missed me and given recent circumstances I decided to say yes. So I got a train up here with Janey and here I am."

"So does this mean you're officially my dad's girlfriend again or what?"

"It looks like it, if that's alright with you of course"

"It's fine. I'm just surprised you went with my dad of all people, twice."

She laughed.

"Mummy" Janey tottered over to Elaine with an adorable, clueless expression, "I'm hungry" Elaine looked to me.

"Well my dad's a rather hopeless cook beyond the basics remember and I might be following in his footsteps. Sorry"

"It's ok." She hoisted Janey up in her arms and walked over to the kitchen area, "What should we have for dinner today?" Janey looked more intent on eating her hand than selecting actual food as Elaine rifled through the cupboards. I felt like I was 13 years old again with her being there, minus Janey of course, and I just remembered what it was like all those years ago when she was part of my dad's life, part of my life.

"_Abigail this is my girlfriend, Elaine" My dad introduced a dark skinned woman with short curly hair and a pretty face. She was dressed simply in dark skinny jeans, a white t-shirt and boots._

"_Hi Abigail" she said as my dad wrapped an arm around her waist, "I love your dad very much"_

_She sounded like his last two girlfriends, telling his kid that they were happy together, telling me as though it would last forever. That's what I wanted: a permanent mum figure, someone I could talk to about girl stuff, someone who I could go to with my problems in life and someone that would actually make my dad happy. But about 2 months in the girl was complaining, first about my dad and his ways and then about me being an issue. Why start dating him in the first place? That always did bother me. But I decided to give Elaine the benefit of the doubt. Third time lucky, right?_

"_Hi Elaine" I did my best to smile. I just hoped she would be third time lucky, that she would be my permanent mum figure and that she would make my dad happy. I don't think she knew how high my expectations were for her._

"_I'll just go check on dinner" My dad said, walking out from the skinny hallway of our house and into the small kitchen._

"_Don't expect much" I told Elaine, "He's a terrible cook"_

_Elaine laughed, "Andrew said that you would say that"_

"_How old are you?" I asked curiously, taking in the smell of burnt food that was wafting in from the kitchen._

"_I'm 25" She replied, "And you're 10 if I remember correctly_

_I nodded my head._

"_This hallway's rather cramped. How about we go to the living room?" Elaine suggested._

_I nodded again._

_We settled down on the sofa and then she turned to me. I was busy envying her ability to touch the floor whilst sitting down; I was rather short for my age._

"_Do you have any dreams or ambitions?" She asked._

"_I want to be a nurse, oh and __I want to have a nickname. All my friends have nicknames" _

"_How about Abby?"_

_I shook my head._

"_It's too common. There are 5 other Abby's at my school"_

"_Uh… how about Watt? Or Watty? You know, after your last name"_

_I wrinkled my nose. For a 10 year old I was rather picky._

"_Well what's your middle name?"_

"_Jaylyn" I told her._

"_Jay?" She smiled, "How about AJ?"_

"_Ooh AJ. My nickname is AJ!"_

"_Well ok _AJ_, I'll make sure to call you that"_

I knew she was doing it to please me by calling me AJ, but it was in that moment that I received a new piece of my identity. I smiled just thinking about it, about the memories. I laughed too myself thinking about the fact that I used to want to be a nurse. I can't stand the sight of blood. My dad wandered out in a baggy shirt and scruffy jeans, with a tired look.

"Smell's delicious" He said as Elaine threw some herbs into the pot. Janey, after choosing food, had since walked back over to the middle of the living room and clambered up onto the sofa with me. She looked at me like some new kind of species now that she didn't have a xylophone in front of her. I felt my phone buzz in my shirt pocket. I checked the caller ID to see Lara's name.

"Yes?" I said, pressing the phone to my ear and walking in the direction of my bedroom.

"Hey AJ, are you definitely coming Friday?" Lara asked

"Haven't checked, sorry. I'll check now" I pressed my hand over the phone, "Dad is it ok if I go out Friday?"

"I'm fine with it, but make sure you're back by 11" He said.

I went straight back to my phone, "Yep I can"

"Cool. By the way make sure you're careful what you drink. Some people have a tendency of making non alcoholic drinks a little bit more interesting."

"Lara we have 2 more days of school, why didn't you just tell me later?"

"Because I'm probably going to forget myself."

"Well I'll be careful and I'll make sure you are too. The last thing I need is anyone spiking my drink"

"Well do you think anyone would?"

I knew it seemed stupid to even think about, but what happened today, what he had said to me, was bugging me and I knew he wasn't some harmless kid "There is someone that comes to mind"


	6. Chapter 6

I watched as Lara posed against the wall and giggled away as she talked to a Havelock boy. We'd barely been at the party 10 minutes and she already sounded heavily intoxicated. She hadn't drunk a single drop however. Not yet any way. Anna sat uncomfortably on one of the crowded sofas. Lara managed to get her out in a bralet somehow, but she clearly had some regrets now. Me? I was busy sipping down lemonade, not chatting with a boy or feeling uncomfortable in my clothes—I was the most covered up of the three of us. We'd spent a good hour or so planning out our outfits. Lara was the most dressed up in her skeleton print mini dress, platform heels and bright fuchsia tights. Miraculously she'd managed to get her mass of curls into a plait, a messy plait of course, but still a plait. Paramore was played at full blast throughout the house, couples were busy doing what couples do and people were busy readying themselves for a hangover the very next day. It was pretty much a classic teen party.

"So it looks like I'm not the only one staying alcohol-free tonight" I broke away from my thoughts and saw a guy about my age with short curly blond hair and blue eyes. He was holding a cup of what I guessed was Pepsi and looked chilled in a pair of jeans and a grey shirt.

"I can't afford a hangover" I sighed, "So I'll just have to play safe"

"I'm not really an alcohol person myself. It's just too bitter" He replied.

"I'm AJ Watkins."

"Evan, Evan Corky" He smiled, "So I'm guessing you're not St Dominic's then"

"No. I'm up at Waterloo road"

"I had my suspicions"

I laughed, "Suspicions?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I was almost certain you weren't my lot and you dress too decent to be Havelock." I looked down at my clothes: A black midi skirt and a long sleeved denim shirt with flat brown boots.

"I think it's called not wanting to freeze to death at this time of the year"

"Well that too" He paused, "Now I know we've only just met and all, but can I just say that you are very pretty"

"Thanks" I shyly smiled, "You're not so bad yourself" And I wasn't lying. His blue eyes were the stunning kind that twinkled as he smiled; he had a handsome face and was well built too. I wouldn't say he was the macho wrestler type, just a tall, thin guy that happened to be muscular at the same time. I spotted Anna signalling for me to come over. I sighed, "I just have to quickly go do something"

"I'll be here" Evan said.

I made my way through groups of people until I finally reached Anna in her floral shorts, bralet and oversized cardigan.

"What is it?" I asked her taking a swig of my lemonade.

"I don't feel comfortable" She said.

"You don't have to tell me that; I already know. You look as though you think everyone in the room is infected. You just have to relax, ok"

"That's easy for you to say" Her eyes landed on the curly haired Evan, "You're company is actually aesthetically pleasing"

"God you make him sound like something from Design Tech class and anyway the people round here aren't that b…" I trailed off, actually taking in the sight around me, "Ok I see you're point. Come on you can—Christ! Duck!"

The two of us squatted behind the sofa, hardly hiding, but just managing to avoid the sight of one Barry Barry.

"What on earth AJ?" Anna looked at me puzzled.

"Barry Barry" I hissed, "He's being a right creep to me"

"How so?"

"He's been giving me looks and the other day he practically offered himself to me"

"I wouldn't say that's creepy as such, just a case of him being an overly confident flirt."

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Ok so it is a bit creepy" She admitted. We rose from our hiding place and the coast was thankfully clear.

"Anyway what I was going to say before all of that happened was that you can come and talk to Evan with me if you want" Anna looked at me and then at Evan for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Ah your back" Evan said. His eyes landed on Anna and her bralet. She quickly covered up, "I'm Evan"

"Anna" She replied shaking his hand, "So I haven't you round before"

"I'm with St Dominic's" He explained.

Silence.

"So Evan what do you do at school?" I asked in attempt to keep the conversation going.

"Oh I take English, Physics, Chemistry, French and Maths"

"Oh so you're rather academic like Anna. She's actually top of the class in practically all subjects"

"Oh" Evan looked more at my red head friend.

"Yeah…" Anna said, "Nothing major"

"I'm gonna go and socialise, that kind of thing" I wandered off to meet Perri in the living room. She must have just arrived. She was looking in Eric's direction, but despite being the bundle of energy she was it was clear that nerves had taken over.

"Hey" I said plopping myself down on the sofa.

"Oh hi" she replied snapping out of her trance, "You look nice"

"Oh thanks. So do you" I took a long sip of my drink, tapping my foot to the beat of the current song, "Hey I'm gonna go top up my drink, do you want me to get you anything?"

"Lemonade"

I squeezed my way through the growing crowds of people carefully avoiding the snogging couples and keeping my distance from all the drunk dancing. I finally reached the table of drinks after stumbling my way across the room.

"Hey. AJ isn't it?"

I moaned.

"What so you're happy to offer yourself to me without even bothering to know my name, Liverpool?"

Barry was smirking as he popped the cap of a nearby beer bottle, "I see you've even given me a nickname."

"It sounds less stupid than you're actual one"

He looked menacing as he took a swig of his drink, "I'm so good they named me twice."

"You might want to be a bit more creative than Nando's. Now if you'd be as so kind to excuse me" I didn't wait for answer or a single gesture, I just walked away, back to Perri. By some miracle I didn't manage to spill our drinks whilst passing through the party riot.

"A toast" Perri said.

"A toast to what?" I asked

"To friendship, as cheesy as it sounds" Our paper cups made a small tap and we both took long draughts. I just wished that I had been more careful.

* * *

"AJ!" A distant voice shouted. I groaned. "AJ!"

I slowly got up, my head killing, screaming away. I felt heavy, tired, hung-over. When my vision came around I saw Lara kneeling over me with a tired expression. I didn't recognise my surroundings, not one bit. I saw bunting and floral garlands and paper lanterns and posters for bands I'd never even heard of. I saw picture collages and patchwork; it was a whole other world to me. I groaned again.

"What happened?" I mumbled.

"I did warn you" Lara said.

I propped myself up on my elbows and looked at my friend with a confused expression and that's when the memories came flooding in: The party, the craziness. I was dancing, I was laughing, I was drunk. How did I get drunk? Shots. I remembered taking shots. I didn't get drunk from shots did I?

"You're a bit of a light weight, you know that?" Lara was busy applying her make up for the day.

"Huh?"

"Light weight: you get drunk easily. Christ I did more than you and I'm not that bad"

I spotted Perri snoozing not too far away from me and Anna was busy flipping through one of Lara's Vogues. Lara had changed from her bralet and florals into skinnies and an oversized jumper. It was only Perri and I that hadn't changed from last night.

"But I wasn't going to drink yesterday" I sighed

"Well that clearly didn't happen. At least you looked like you were having fun." Lara laughed a wicked laugh.

"What?" Lara didn't answer me. She just kept on giggling, "What?"

"You might have done a couple stupid things" Anna said.

"Like…?"

"Kiss Barry Barry"

I choked. I coughed. I scrubbed at my mouth and Lara was still laughing.

"What the hell?! Why didn't you guys stop me?"

"Well you looked like you were having a good time" Lara smirked

"I was drunk!" I cried.

"Yes well now you know to be a bit more careful" Lara replied, "And so does Perri. You should have seen her"

I sighed heavily.

"Christ" I breathed, "Bloody hell. I was drinking lemonade for the night, I couldn't possibly have…wait"

"Wait what?" Anna sat cross-legged across from me.

I was struggling to recall the memory, "I was talking to Barry Barry by the drinks... Do you think he added something to my drink?"

"Maybe. It's possible." Lara sighed.

"I was getting a drink for Perri as well; he might have added something to her cup"

"Makes sense"

Perri tiredly joined a conversation, "What happened?"

We explained to her the night: the things that happened, the things that might have happened, the things that we would probably face Monday Morning. She was pissed. The angry kind of course. She'd already had her fair share of the drunken kind for one week.

"When I see Barry I'm gonna kill him!"

She groaned lifting a hand to her forehead.

"But first you might want to try some aspirin." Anna said, "And perhaps a shower. Just saying"

"Are you alright now girls?" The four of us turned around to see an aging woman with short blonde hair. It wasn't hard to guess she was Lara's mum. We all nodded, "Ok well there's some breakfast stuff on the side in the kitchen in you want anything. I'm going to work and Lara your father doesn't wish to be disturbed today, ok."

"Yes mum." Lara sighed.

Lara's mum was gone.

"So that's what your mum looks like" I said.

"Yep" Lara went back to her make-up and hair.

"What does your mum do again?" Perri asked, "Isn't she like a psychic or something?"

"Part time psychic, part time florist." Lara replied

"And your dad?"

"Writer. Whenever he has a 'revelation' he shuts himself in his office and refuses to talk to anyone. He can stay in there for days."

"That's writers for you" Anna sighed.


End file.
